Looking back, 2024 will go down as a fantastic year for TV and little else. For every critically praised returning series like The Bear, Hacks, and Shrinking, a new show premiered to steal the spotlight from the established hits. There are too many to name in one piece and, as space is limited here, I’ve narrowed the list down to a handful of freshman series that made a qualitative splash in ’24.
The Penguin (HBO/Max): It’s a Batman show without Batman and a Colin Farrell vehicle (mostly) without Colin Farrell—yet The Penguin still works. Set in Gotham after the events of 2022’s The Batman (that’s the Matt Reeves-directed, Robert Pattinson-starring film, for those not keeping count), The Penguin follows mob underling Oz Cobb (a heavily made-up Farrell) as he plots to rule the city. One obstacle: Sofia Falcone (a fearsome Cristin Milioti), a mob heiress fresh from a psyche-altering stint in Arkham Asylum. If you’re not into superhero sagas, no problem: The Penguin leans more Sopranos.
Fallout (Prime Video): Just as The Penguin is more than a comic-book adaptation, Fallout goes above and beyond the usual video game-to-screen fare. The series embraces satire and sadness equally as postapocalyptic survivors Lucy (Ella Purnell, Yellowjackets) and the Ghoul (Walton Goggins—forever Baby Billy from HBO’s The Righteous Gemstones) fight to withstand in the wasteland of Los Angeles. Fallout outdoes The Last of Us with a dark sense of humor and visual zing, making for an inviting apocalypse.
Agatha All Along (Disney+): It took three years and several subsequent Marvel series of wavering quality for Disney to finally give WandaVision MVP Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) her own vehicle, but it was worth the wait. On a quest to regain her witch powers, Agatha hastily assembles a coven (including Sasheer Zamata, Patti LuPone, and Joe Locke) to navigate the trials of the Witches Road. A gleefully unhinged performance from Aubrey Plaza makes Agatha All Along—wait for it—magical.
English Teacher (FX/Hulu): Lacking serious star power and saddled with a Labor Day premiere date, FX’s plainly titled English Teacher still scored high grades with critics and audiences alike. The workplace comedy could be described as Abbott Elementary graduates to high school, and the situations encountered by idealistic Evan (show creator and star Brian Jordan Alvarez) and his fellow teachers (Stephanie Koenig and Sean Patton) are more PG-13, but no less hilarious. A second season should be inevitable, right FX?
Say Nothing (Hulu): Advance promo trailers made Say Nothing look like Pulp Fiction with car bombs, but the series—based on Patrick Radden Keefe’s nonfiction book of the same name—is much deeper and more nuanced. Kicking off in 1971 during The Troubles of Northern Ireland, Say Nothing follows (real-life) teen activist sisters Dolours (Lola Petticrew) and Marian (Hazel Doupe), as well as rising Irish Republican Army leader Gerry Adams (Josh Finan). As the years progress into the ’80s and ’90s, the IRA’s once-righteous battle grows more introspective and painful. (As the end of each episode in the nine-part series states, at 76, Adams, who became the leader of the Irish political party Sinn Féin, continues to deny being a member of the IRA or participating in any IRA-related violence despite reports to the contrary.)
True Detective: Night Country (HBO/Max): Following a universally hailed debut season, two mostly dismissed follow-ups, and a publicly vocal denunciation by series creator Nic Pizzolatto, True Detective bounced back triumphantly with new director and co-writer Issa Lopez’s Night Country. A pair of troubled detectives (Jodie Foster, who won a Golden Globe on Jan. 5 for her performance, and Golden Globe nominee Kali Reis) investigate the bizarre disappearance of a team of Arctic Circle research scientists, only to find seemingly supernatural forces at work in the frozen landscape.
Interior Chinatown (Hulu): Golden Dragon restaurant employee Willis (Jimmy O. Yang) splits his time between dreary reality and a stilted TV cop-show fantasy—until he’s drafted into a real investigation by Det. Lana Lee (Chloe Bennet). The ever-shifting narrative weave of Interior Chinatown is as unpredictable as it is seamless, as preposterous events aren’t relegated to the “fantasy” suite. Besides laughs and intrigue, the one constant in Willis’ world is Fatty (Ronny Chieng, The Daily Show), who steals every scene he’s in.
Also new and noteworthy in 2024: After Midnight (CBS/Paramount+), Bad Monkey (Apple TV+), Clipped (FX/Hulu), Fantasmas (HBO/Max), The Franchise (HBO/Max), Funny Woman (PBS), Grotesquerie (FX/Hulu), High Potential (ABC/Hulu), Kaos (Netflix), Landman (Paramount+), A Man on the Inside (Netflix), Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Prime Video), Palm Royale (Apple TV+), Shogun (FX/Hulu), Sunny (Apple TV+), Sweetpea (Starz), Teacup (Peacock), and Ted (Peacock).